


"Shame to Waste the Ale"

by Lucyemers



Category: Grantchester (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Pre-Slash, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-18
Updated: 2017-02-18
Packaged: 2018-09-25 09:40:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9813611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucyemers/pseuds/Lucyemers
Summary: Geordie comes down with the flu, Sidney takes him home.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [glim](https://archiveofourown.org/users/glim/gifts).



He had made a valiant effort, Sidney thought. Only a few hours after they had wrapped up a particularly horrific case they had made their customary trip to the pub. But Geordie is no more than two sips in and his eyes are starting to unfocus. His brow sweats like the pint glass before him that he suddenly picks up not to drink but to hold against his cheek in an effort to cool down. 

 

Sidney had been laid up with flu for a week, a common enough occurrence in a parish where “though we are many we all share one bread one cup”, he had been fussed over by Mrs. Macguire and Leonard and a few times Geordie, who is now sighing into his hands that are pressed against his forehead. “It’s finally caught up with you”, Sidney remarks gently. Geordie gives him a smirk and looks ready to shrug off his concern but instead he picks up the pint glass, puts it down, resigned, sighs and closes his eyes.

 

“You're going to give a new meaning to 'in his cups’ if we don't get you home soon.”

 

“Shame to waste the ale”, Geordie replies wearily, “Especially since it was your round.”

 

Geordie's no good at lying when he's ill. He might shrug away Sidney's hovering hands as he stumbles to the car but he doesn't even try to tell Sidney that Cathy and the kids are home as she's taken them to visit her mother. Must be a job hazard, Geordie thinks, all vicars' eyes must be similarly disarming, he reasons to himself. 

 

Later installed in the chair beside his bed Sidney watches Geordie's fever climb. For all his obvious exhaustion he is rather gruff about being taken care of. Even as he's sighing at the relief of a damp cloth to his forehead he begrudgingly implores him, “Don't make this a big deal Sidney.”  
“Not a big deal Geordie,” Sidney murmurs all patience in the face of his exasperated pleas. He's barely got the energy to bat Sidney's hand away and when Sidney stops him from it by grasping his hand, Geordie squeezes back. Expressing gratitude in a way he would always be too stubborn to do in words. 

 

Sidney dozes off and wakes with his neck stiff and hand gone lax in Geordie's. He considers, with a slight smile that the man even looks stubborn in his sleep. His brow is furrowed as if he's determined to fight the chills coursing through him, as if he wouldn't even acknowledge them if he were awake. Just brush them off with the practiced dismissal of a copper who dealt with one too many poorly constructed alibis. 

 

It's a humorous thought and one that makes Sidney brush his cheek in fondness and concern. Careful not to wake him he climbs into bed next to him and takes him into his arms whispering almost formally, “Come on, I'll help you get warm.” Geordie stirs beside him, rolling towards him and peering at him through fever bright eyes. “Sidney?” Sidney smiles and says lightly, “You were shivering." Geordie leans into him gratefully, breath slowing as he lets the warmth wash over him. “You didn't have to do this”, he says as he turns to move even closer to him than before. “Don't make this a big deal”, Sidney teases. He can hear Geordie chuckle slightly into his chest as he drops back off to sleep.


End file.
